CURLEY WEAVER — Complete Recorded Works 1933-1935 In Chronological Order | DOCD-5111 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Georgia slide guitar wizard Curley Weaver (1906-1962) is best remembered for his lengthy association with Blind Willie McTell, one of several guitarists who are heard on a 23-track compilation of Weaver records dating from 1933-1935. This disc appeared on Document in 1992, was reissued in 2000, and again in 2005. An expressive vocalist who sang at times like Blind Boy Fuller or Blind Blake, Weaver occasionally shifted into a plaintive falsetto while dexterously manipulating his slide over the fretted neck of the guitar. His friendship with fellow Georgians Blind Buddy Keith, Nemehiah Smith, Barbecue Bob, Charlie Lincoln, and Eddie Mapp are legendary. This is only a taste of his recorded legacy; Weaver cut his first sides in 1928 and made his final recordings in 1950 with his old friend Willie McTell. Vocalist Ruth Willis, who was closely affiliated with Weaver and his circle of musical friends, is heard in a duet with him on "Some Cold Rainy Day." As is often the case with Document collections released during the '90s, there are occasional instances of poor sound quality, and tracks 15 and 16 in particular suffer from periodic distortion. Tracks 6-13 are played by the Georgia Browns, a lively little band involving guitarist Fred McMullen and Weaver's harmonica-toting pal Buddy Moss. "Tampa Strut" and "Decatur Street 81" are two of this group's choicest sides, while "Who Stole de Lock?" has a decidedly more rural feel to it than the 1932 recording by Jack Bland's Rhythmakers. Both renditions benefit from a comparison with two earlier recordings of the tune by Bryant's Jubilee Quartet, a fine gospel and secular vocal harmony group whose complete works have also been reissued by Document. Some of Weaver's recordings were included on JSP's excellent four-CD set Atlanta Blues. arwulf arwulf
 
Georgia slide guitar wizard Curley Weaver (1906-1962) is best remembered for his lengthy association with Blind Willie McTell, one of several guitarists who are heard on a 23-track compilation of Weaver records dating from 1933-1935.
An expressive vocalist who sang at times like Blind Boy Fuller or Blind Blake, Weaver occasionally shifted into a plaintive falsetto while dexterously manipulating his slide over the fretted neck of the guitar. DOCD-5036
Tracklist :
1    Curley Weaver–    No No Blues (12908)    3:07
2    Curley Weaver–    Leg Iron Blues    3:13
3    Curley Weaver With Ruth Willis*–    Some Cold Rainy Day    2:38
4    Curley Weaver–    Tippin' Tom    2:56
5    Curley Weaver–    Birmingham Gambler    2:59
6    The Georgia Browns–    Tampa Strut    2:55
7    The Georgia Browns–    Decatur Street 81    2:46
8    The Georgia Browns–    Next Door Man (Take 1)    3:05
9    The Georgia Browns–    Next Door Man (Take 2)    2:54
10    The Georgia Browns–    It Must Have Been Her    2:44
11    The Georgia Browns–    Who Stole De Lock?    2:46
12    The Georgia Browns–    Joker Man    2:49
13    Curley Weaver With Blind Willie McTell–    You Was Born To Die    2:47
14    Curley Weaver–    Dirty Mistreater    3:07
15    Curley Weaver–    Black Woman    3:14
16    Curley Weaver–    City Cell Blues    3:11
17    Curley Weaver–    Empty Room Blues    3:16
18    Curley Weaver–    Tricks Ain't Walkin' No More    3:10
19    Curley Weaver–    Sometime Mama    3:06
20    Curley Weaver–    Oh Lawdy Mama    3:17
21    Curley Weaver–    Two Faced Woman    3:06
22    Curley Weaver–    Early Morning Blues (C-9942)    2:57
23    Curley Weaver–    Fried Pie Blues    3:02

BUDDY MOSS — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 1 • 1933 | DOCD-5123 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Eugene “Buddy” Moss, a gifted blues musician, embarked on his musical journey at a young age, introduced to recording at just sixteen during a session with Columbia records in Atlanta. Born in 1914, Moss honed his skills on harmonica and later taught himself guitar, showcasing his talent as a vocalist as well. His 1933 recordings in New York revealed his mastery of the Piedmont blues style, influenced by artists like Blind Blake.  Moss, is now hailed as one of the most influential bluesmen of the 1930s, DOCD-5123
Tracklist :
1        Bye Bye Mama 3:12
Guitar [2nd g., probably] – Fred McMullen
Speech – Ruth Willis
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
2        Daddy Don't Care 3:14
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
3        Red River Blues 2:50
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
4        Cold Country Blues 3:24
Guitar [2nd g., probably] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
5        Prowling Woman 3:13
Guitar [2nd g., probably] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
6        T.B.'s Killing Me 2:54
Guitar [2nd g., probably] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
7        When I'm Dead And Gone 2:57
Guitar [2nd g., probably] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
8        Hard Times Blues 3:09
Guitar [2nd g., probably] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
9        Prowlin' Gambler Blues 3:07
Guitar [2nd g., probably] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
10        Hard Road Blues 3:12
Guitar [2nd g., probably] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
11        Jealous Hearted Man 2:55
Guitar [2nd g., probably] – Fred McMullen
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
12        Midnight Rambler 2:43
Guitar [2nd g.] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
13        Best Gal 2:50
Guitar [2nd g.] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
14        Restless Night Blues 2:52
Guitar [2nd g.] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
15        Married Man's Blues 2:47
Guitar [2nd g.] – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
16        Somebody Keeps Calling Me 2:50
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
17        Back To My Used To Be 2:40
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
18        Back To My Used To Be 2:44
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
19        Can't Use You No More 2:48
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Speech – Blind Willie McTell
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
20        Can't Use You No More 2:46
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Speech – Blind Willie McTell
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
21        Travelin' Blues 2:59
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
22        Bachelor's Blues 3:06
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss

BUDDY MOSS — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 2 • 1933-1934 | DOCD-5124 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For completists, specialists and academics, Document's Complete Recordings, Vol. 2: 1933-1934 is invaluable, offering an exhaustive overview of Buddy Moss' early recordings. For less dedicated listeners, the disc is a mixed blessing. There are some absolutely wonderful, classic performances on the collection, but the long running time, exacting chronological sequencing, poor fidelity (all cuts are transferred from original acetates and 78s), and number of performances are hard to digest. The serious blues listener will find all these factors to be positive, but enthusiasts and casual listeners will find that the collection is of marginal interest for those very reasons. Thom Owens

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. During July and August 1934 Buddy Moss cut eighteen titles over five sessions, with all but one of them being subsequently released. To gain an appreciation of how valuable, or otherwise, Buddy was to his record company as a potentially large seller of records, his contracts of the time indicate that he was paid $5 for each selection. By the end of the following year that payment had been doubled to $10. It has often been commented that Buddy Moss was the most influential East Coast bluesman to record in the years between Blind Blake‘s last session and Blind Boy Fuller‘s first. Listening to these solo items it becomes fairly apparent where some of the sources of Fuller’s musical ideas, as well as some of his vocal technique, were found. This is best exemplified by Some Lonesome Day where the mode of singing and guitar style are very proto-Fuller. This recording is markedly different, both in lyric and approach, to the song of the same title of 21 September 1933 on which he is accompanied by Weaver. To carry the Blind Boy Fuller analogy further, the meter of Dough Rollin’ Papa is exactly that used by Fuller for his hugely successful, I’m A Rattlesnakin’ Daddy, recorded the following year. Being in a solo setting and without the instrumental constraints of others seemed to alter Moss’s singing style. His vocal developed a deeper, more sullen, tone at times reminiscent of Leroy Carr at his more languid. In turn this brought about an introverted almost desolate air to his recordings. Indeed this may have been purely a reflection of the mood of the man himself. There does seem to have been, over several sessions, a preponderance of such themes as sexual frustration, death, misery, sleepless nights, infidelity, alienation etc, so perhaps such a hypothesis is not that so from the mark. The Blind Blake inspired Insane Blues found Buddy Moss ill at ease with the world,

“Blues and trouble, I mean they will drive you wild. They won’t only drive you crazy, they’ll make you commit suicide”.

While the East Coast favourite, Trick’s Ain’t Walking No More, though maintaining a ragtime tempo, had a vocal more in keeping with the moody, magnificence of Lucille Bogan‘s recording rather than those of his Piedmont contemporaries. In Jinx Man,  BuddyMoss sounded like a man constantly dogged by unstable relationships, laying the blame for such failings firmly at the door of a jinx,

“I’m just a mistreated man and the jinx is on poor me. Since my baby left me, seems like the whole world down on me”. DOCD-5124
Tracklist :
1        Broke Down Engine No. 2 3:04
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
2        Broke Down Engine No. 2 3:07
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
3        B & O Blues No. 2 3:03
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
4        Some Lonesome Day 2:45
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
5        Some Lonesome Day 2:53
Guitar – Curley Weaver
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
6        New Lovin' Blues 2:36
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
7        Unkind Woman 2:50
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
8        When The Hearse Roll Me From My Door 2:54
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
9        Insane Blues 2:34
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
10        Tricks Ain't Walking No More 2:52
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
11        Stinging Bull Nettle 2:39
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
12        Oh, Lordy, Mama 2:42
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
13        Dough Rolling Papa 2:39
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
14        Some Lonesome Day 2:43
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
15        Misery Man Blues 2:36
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
16        Jinx Man Blues 2:44
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
17        Evil Hearted Woman 2:50
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
18        Too Dog-Gone Jealous 3:06
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
19        Someday, Baby (I'll Have Mine) 2:50
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
20        Love Me, Baby, Love Me 2:37
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
21        Sleepless Night 2:34
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss
22        Shake It All Night Long 2:52
Vocals, Guitar – Buddy Moss

BARBECUE BOB (Robert Hicks) — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 3 • 1929-1930 | DOCD-5048 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

"Barbecue Bob"'s final recordings are on this third of three discs. Bob (whose name was actually Robert Hicks) died on October 21, 1931, at the age of just 29 from pneumonia. Since his last solo records were made during November 6, 1929, and April 17-December 5, 1930, there is no decline heard in his singing or playing. Barbecue Bob is heard on 13 unaccompanied numbers (including "She Move It Just Right," "Yo Yo Blues No. 2," "We Sure Got Hard Times," and "Atlanta Moan") and interacting with his brother Charlie Lincoln on the amusing two-part "Darktown Gamblin'." Barbecue Bob's final four recordings were made as part of the Georgia Cotton Pickers on December 7-8, 1930, a trio with guitarist/singer Curly Weaver and Buddy Moss on harmonica. Recommended, as are all three volumes of this valuable series.  Scott Yanow

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Columbia’s field recording trips to the South took place twice a year from 1925 to 1930, in the spring and the late fall; having collected eight songs (of which they issued six) from Barbecue Bob in November 1929, they returned as usual in April 1930. On this occasion, Bob’s brother Charlie Lincoln made his only recorded appearance under his real name on the comic dialogues Darktown Gamblin, which were credited to Robert & Charlie Hicks. Barbecue Bob was still a hot property as far as Columbia were concerned, though they were shortly to find that his, like all blues records, were becoming a luxury that blacks could ill afford in those hard times. Similarly, Bob was concerned to keep in tune with trends in the entertainment industry; he recorded a follow up to Yo Yo Blues and continued to turn out variations on Its Tight Like That, including one which referred to that song by name. Twistin Your Stuff was un-issued at the time. Monkey And The Baboon may have inspired Bob to write his own animal story, based on the fable of the spider and the fly. In December 1930, Columbia was back in Atlanta. Bob appeared as usual to record and began with the fiercely sung and played Jambooger Blues. Atlanta Moan and Doin The Scraunch were rewrites of hit records. New Mojo Blues, though, confirmed that Bobs talent for original songs rooted in black culture was still going strong. That session was Barbecue Bobs last as a solo artist, but shortly afterwards he brought his long-time friend Curley Weaver and a 16 year old boy called Buddy Moss, to the Campbell Hotel. There they cut four magnificent sides as the Georgia Cotton Pickers, with Moss playing fiery harmonica, Weaver playing brilliant slide guitar and Bob contributing rhythm guitar and lead vocals. Their first two songs were versions of hits by the Mississippi Sheiks and Blind Blake, while She Looks So Good was hokum; She’s  Coming Back Some Cold Rainy Day was a well-known theme around Atlanta, and recorded by several of the local musicians. DOCD-5037
Tracklist :
1    Barbecue Bob–    She Moves It Just Right    2:54
2    Barbecue Bob–    Tellin' It To You    3:11
3    Barbecue Bob–    Yo-Yo Blues, No. 2    3:10
4    Barbecue Bob–    She Shook Her Gin    3:08
5    Barbecue Bob–    We Sure Got Hard Times    3:24
6    Barbecue Bob–    Twistin' That Stuff    3:07
7    Barbecue Bob–    Monkey And The Baboon    3:03
 Traditional
8    Barbecue Bob–    Spider And The Fly    3:32
9    Robert And Charlie Hicks–    Darktown Gamblin' -- Part 1 (The Crap Game)    3:02
 Public Domain / Traditional
10    Robert And Charlie Hicks–    Darktown Gamblin' -- Part 2 (The Skin Game)    3:06
11    Barbecue Bob–    Jambooger Blues    3:14
 Robert Hicks
12    Barbecue Bob–    It Just Won't Quit    3:14
13    Barbecue Bob–    Atlanta Moan    3:02
 Robert Hicks
14    Barbecue Bob–    New Mojo Blues    3:25
15    Barbecue Bob–    Doin' The Scraunch    2:54
16    Georgia Cotton Pickers–    I'm On My Way Down Home    3:11
17    Georgia Cotton Pickers–    Diddle-Da-Diddle    3:00
18    Georgia Cotton Pickers–    She Looks So Good    2:57
19    Georgia Cotton Pickers–    She's Coming Back Some Cold Rainy Day    3:00
Credits :
Harmonica – Buddy Moss (tracks: 16 to 19)
Speech – Barbecue Bob (tracks: 9, 10), Unknown Artist (tracks: 10)
Speech, Guitar [possibly] – Charlie Hicks (tracks: 9, 10)
Vocals, Guitar – Curley Weaver (tracks: 16 to 19)
Vocals, Twelve-String Guitar – Barbecue Bob